The Curse of Eris
by Dextra
Summary: Nico thought he was done with adventures for awhile. Oh how wrong he was. Watch Nico deal with his new crush, camp bullies, a magic toliet, new monsters, and a quest to save the camp and the world from a deathly disease. It's hard being a teenaged demigod
1. Eris Comes to Town

**A/N: This is set two years after The Last Olympian and it's all in Nico's point of view. Nico is also fourteen years old. I accept constructive criticism, but please tell me how to fix my mistakes when you point them out. **

I sat on the dock by the lake with my feet in the water, totally bored and with nothing to do. It didn't feel natural, but at this point I didn't care. It was too hot outside, and the cabins didn't really have air conditioner so it was even hotter inside of them. It was either this, or practicing new make- up techniques with the Aphrodite girls. Which one would you choose? I don't look all that good with eye liner and mascara on...not that I would know what I looked like with it on.

It's been two years since the battle with Kronos. And boy, what a long two years those have been. Want to know what I've done since then? Nothing. No quests, no monsters, and no evil crisis threatening the world. I would be surprised if there were any monsters left roaming around since Percy killed a lot of them.

My average days consisted of eating, sleeping, thinking, breathing, and who could forget all the training? Well, many people have forgotten the training because after the war, Chiron gave us the choice to pick if we want to training or do arts and crafts like a normal camp. Most people go for the arts and crafts because it requires no experience. You make macaroni art and you're done. Training has been cut to only half a day, while the other half, I add pictures of my macaroni art to my never ending collection. I made an elephant today. It actually looks more like a squirrel, but hey, I tried.

However, most people are at archery right now. Obviously, I'm not. I'm more of a sword kind of guy. The great thing about today, though, is we're having capture the flag tonight. Yeah, at night. When it's dark. The game is way more fun when it's pitch black and the only light is comming from torches. Harder, but more exciting.

I stood up and bent over to grab my shoes and moved back over to the cabins. It was almost dinner anyway. I could see the some of the other campers come back from archery and go back into their own cabins to get ready.

I was one of the first to the eating area. Percy and Annabeth were there and they waved when they saw me. I waved back and sat down at my lonely table. It didn't take long for all the other tables to be filled. It usually never does.

I noticed one of the tables that has always been empty, was almost full of people. There were twelve in all; seven boys and five girls. I didn't recognize them and it was strange for that many new campers to come in one day. It was even more weird they all had the same parent. They looked like they could pass off as children of Ares. All but two of the boys had brown hair and eyes. I knew they weren't Ares' children because they didn't have the same muscle build and they were pretty short. The tallest was a boy, and he was only about 5'10.

Chiron and Dionysus were both standing in front of all the tables, waiting for them to settle down. Mr. D clinked a spoon against his wine glass to get the camper's attention.

Chiron cleared his throat. "I'm sure most of you have noticed we have new campers today. They are the sons and daughters of Eris. I expect all of you to welcome them. Second, the rules for capture the flag tonight are-"

Chiron was interrupted by excited cheers coming from the Ares cabin. They were shushed by the Athena cabin soon after, though.

"Yes, yes. It's very exciting. All magic items are allowed in tonight's match. Maiming and killing is forbidden, as usual. And no personal armies," Chiron continued and looked at me when he said the last bit. There was an accident with that a year ago.

When he was finished talking, campers starting to make their offerings to the gods and the buzz of chatter started up.

"For Hades," I muttered and threw my piece of food into the fire with the other's and started to eat.

I looked back over at the Eris table and saw they were all huddled close together and whispering. They all had serious faces on and I could see Dionysus glaring at them with suspicion.

One of the younger looking girls (she looked more like my age) from that table turned and caught me staring at them. She gave me hard look but didn't turn away. Well, isn't this awkward? I fixed my eyes back on my food but I could still tell she was looking my way. When I looked up, she had gone back to whispering with her siblings. They all looked like pretty anti-social people.

When I was done eating, I got up and headed back towards my cabin to get ready for capture the flag. I only made it half way there before I heard a voice behind me.

"Excuse me."

I turned around to see the Eris girl had followed me. Now that we were standing, I could see how much taller I really was compared to her. She was barely up to my chest.

"I was wondering, where do we go if we have finished eating?" she asked.

"Um, just back to your cabin," I responded even though I was sure she already knew that. "Get some armor on for the game tonight, too."

She nodded and looked down at the ground, like she was looking for something else to say.

"What's your name?" she asked just as I was about to turn away.

"Nico," I replied shortly.

"Illia," she said and held out her hand. I shook it and she let it drop limply to her side. "I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Do you and your siblings need a team tonight?" I asked before she got very far.

"No. We're on Ares' team," Illia called back without turning back.

Well, that was the most random conversation I've ever had. She wasn't much of a talker. I looked after her and saw in the fire light, she was whispering things to her siblings again and some of the other Eris girls gave me looks. It sort of made me mad because I knew they were talking about me from the small glances they gave me from time to time. I shrugged and turned back to my cabins.

I was going to kick their butts tonight anyway.


	2. I Only Get to Kick One Butt Tonight

**A/N: Hi, again! Thank you all for reviewing and faving/alerting this. Hope you like the new chapter and don't forget to leave constructive criticism or your opinions!**

I was scanning through the large mass of people on the red team in front of me to find the easiest escape route. Percy and I both were going to make a run for the flag while the other team is fighting so they won't notice we left. I crouched slightly, ready for the whistle to signal the start of the game. If you looked over at Percy, you would see him excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet, ready to run.

_3_

_2_

_1_

_Bleep!_

Not even a second after the whistle sounded, people collided with each other and swung their swords around. I dodged through the crowd to follow Percy, who was already a ways in front of me. We weren't taking the paths, which were lighted. Instead, we were running through the trees, and I could tell I just got some bruises on my legs and I was expecting more.

I finally caught up with Percy and we sprinted along side each other for awhile. Pretty soon, the forest began to get too dense to run through and we had to move to the path. There, we were very easy targets, but the fighting was a long way away from where we were. I could still hear the shouting coming from the Ares' cabin.

Suddenly, Percy came to an abrupt halt. There was a fork in the road, meaning we'll have to split up.

"I'll go to the right! You take the left!" Percy said and ran off on the path to the right.

After running down my path for I don't even know how long, I had to stop and rest. I was starting to think the flag was in the direction Percy went, anyway.

I took off my helmet and ran my fingers through my hair once so it would stop sticking to my head with sweat. It was too hot outside to be wearing full armor.

It was too quiet, also. I couldn't hear the sounds of battle anymore and it was strangely eerie to be just sitting and listening to silence. Every small sound made me jump a little.

I got up and walked down the path instead. I would meet up with Percy soon because I knew these two paths connect somewhere up front. I don't remember where and it's too dark to recognize the other path. This is also when I noticed there were no torches here.

No sign of Percy, or the road, for that matter. And my eyes were already adjusted to the dark and I still ended up tripping over rocks.

Then, there was the sound of a twig snapping behind me. I whirled around but saw no one. Shrugging it off as some sort of animal, I kept on walking. There were a few times after that I heard sudden sounds. They were too consistent for me to think of them as just animals now. It was started to make me feel anxious.

Then I saw it right in front of me. The red team's flag and there was no sign of Percy anywhere. I dropped my helmet and ran up to it, ready to hoist it and run back to my team's side. Well, that's what I thought I would be doing, but plans changed.

There was a thud behind me, like someone had just dropped out of a tree.

"Drop it," a harsh voice behind me said. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place who it was.

I turned around only to see a sword pointed at my throat. It looked too big for the wielder. I took my own sword out and swung it in the person's direction. I felt our swords collide multiple times. They were a defensive fighter and I knew they weren't going to throw any attacks of their own at me. Just reflect them all.

There were times where I had almost disarmed the fighter. Almost. I wasn't swinging fast enough. I took one final swipe at their feet and then I heard a gasp of pain. Next was the sound of a sword clinging against rock.

"Stop!" They said.

I did stop swinging but I didn't put my sword away, in case this person was just acting to get my disarmed. I could faintly make out the figure of a person sitting on the ground, clutching their ankle. Their helmet lay discarded on the ground too and I could see the person who was injured was female. I guess I should have realized that when she had spoken, but I was too caught up in the game to notice.

"Are you okay?" I asked. It's been quite awhile since she dropped to the ground.

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "I don't need your help."

She started to try to stand up off the ground, but it took more than one try to get all the way up. When she was up, you could clearly see she wasn't putting any weight on her right leg.

"Are you sure? I could help you get back to camp," I offered.

"Yes. And I don't need your help. I'm perfectly fine," she said and started to limp down the path. Camp was a long way so I followed her anyway, much to her dismay.

"I said, I didn't want any help," she snapped again.

"Oh, I heard you. But it's a long way back to camp, you know," I said.

She sighed in frustration and continued to limp down the path. "Shouldn't you be going back to get the flag?"

"My teammate will get it," I said and took her helmet and sword from her grasp.

"Give those back," she said. She was getting really upset now.

I shook my head. "No. You're having enough of a problem with just walking."

She gave up trying to get me to leave after that and we just walked in silence. I still couldn't see her face, and it didn't help she was refusing to look at me.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"You already know it," she said. The girl sounded a bit tired from the limping down a hill.

"Can you tell me anyway?"

"Illia," she gritted her teeth.

I looked at her more closely and saw that wasn't very hard to believe.

"Ah, you're the girl with the gossiping siblings," I smirked.

"Shut up." Illia almost fell, but I caught her by the arm. She shoved me away roughly though.

"So, what was up with the short conversation earlier?" I asked just to poke fun at her some more. Illia got irritated very easily and I thought it was sort of amusing in a way.

"We thought you were a child of Zeus. I just making sure you weren't." she said and then stopped in the middle of the road. We still had a long way to go and she was stopping now?

"What's wrong with Zeus?" I asked.

"I need to sit down," she said, but I could tell she was avoiding the question.

Illia sat down on the nearest fallen log and started to take her right shoe off. I could see it was badly swollen and she gasped in pain when she gingerly touched it. I sat on the ground next to her.

"Why did you need to know if I was Zeus' child or not?" I tried again and she sighed. She did that a lot.

"Zeus hates my mother and all of her children. A son or daughter of Zeus would automatically hate my siblings and me and we would have to leave," she responded without taking her eyes off her ankle.

"Why?" I asked.

"You ask too many questions. I don't know why. The eldest of our group, Matthew, said so," Illia said the name with disgust.

I don't think she liked him very much by the sound of her voice. Illia put her shoe back on but kept it untied. She started back down the path and I once again followed. We didn't talk much after that. Occasionally, she would stop and sit down from time to time, but only for a few minutes.

We finally got back to camp and I saw the game had ended way before we got back. It turns out Percy had gotten to the flag after all. I saw a bunch of my teammates celebrating and people on the other team sulking from the lost.

I felt like an idiot now.

No one noticed Illia and I come, but I didn't really want them to. I didn't want them I turned down a chance to get the flag earlier but turned it down to help someone on the _opposite _team. We weren't even friends!

Pushing those thoughts behind me, I lead Illia to the infirmary. She was exhausted so she leaned on me on the way over there. I thought that was pretty surprising because before she was determined to get back to camp all by herself.

One of the nurses took her from me and laid her down on one of the beds. The nurse took out bandages and started to wrap up Illia's foot and ankle. I think she had injured it more by walking on it down a hill. It was very swollen by now and purple. Obviously she didn't break otherwise she wouldn't have been able to walk by herself, but she did sprain it pretty good. Or, I should really say _I_ sprained Illia's ankle pretty good.

"You should leave," Illia said softly. I turned my head towards her when she said that. I thought she would be asleep by now because she hasn't uttered one word since we got here.

"Leave the infirmary? I will in a few minutes if you don't need any help getting back to your cabin if. That is, if you're free to go," I responded but she shook her head.

"I meant leave the camp."

I gave her a confused look. Why would I do that? Sure, there were some days it was very boring, and I've always said I would like to leave sometime to do things I've always wanted to do. Not sure what, but something cool. Like…professional wrestling or something like that.

"Why?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It would be a good idea if you did. I won't be leaving, though."

I thought for a moment. Why would it be a good idea to leave the safest place in the world for a half-blood? I was going to ask why again, but Illia sort of…fell asleep.

I got up and walked back outside, where many people were still celebrating. We take capture the flag very seriously here at camp and I have a feeling my team will be celebrating their victory for a considerable amount of time. I'm not much of a "party animal" myself, though.

I spotted Percy and I was going to go up to him and ask him about the ending of the game, but he was sort of occupied at the moment. By occupied, I mean he and Annabeth were making out under a tree. Jeez, talk about PDA. There are children present.

Whatever, I'll ask him about it tomorrow. I felt really tired from all the running, my one-sided battle, and then walking all the way back down a steep hill with an injured girl. That was not how I was hoping this game would go, but what can you do?

I got to my cabin, threw my armor and sword in a corner, and collapsed into bed. I'll just take a shower tomorrow morning. I felt too lazy to right now, anyway. And I was still kind of miffed I didn't get the flag. Percy always got the flag!

Maybe next time…when there isn't an injured person who needs help getting back to camp.

* * *

**A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? Let me know, please. I made this chapter longer than the last. :)**

**~W**


	3. Nothing Makes Sense to Me Anymore

**A/N: Again, thank you all very much for reading and taking the time to review. I really appreciate people giving their opinions on different things and giving a few suggestions along the way. It's really helping me. I hope you like this chapter. :) **

_I was slowly walking up steep, stone steps. They seemed endless. The only sound that could be heard was he clanking of my shoes against the stone. The air around the building was foggy, and I couldn't see anything beyond where I was standing. Finally, I got to the top. There were strange looking creatures roaming around on the platform. Giant animals, they were. They had the body of a lion and a head of an eagle. The beasts also sported some kind of wings on their back._

_They hissed with displeasure when they saw me. _

_"Leave, son of Hades. You are not welcome here," one of the larger ones whispered. But I couldn't leave. It felt like my feet were glued to the floor. _

_It took a swipe at me and I fell backwards. Blood spilled from the wound it made across my chest. Suddenly, I felt cold hands cradle my head. I looked up and saw Illia staring down at me. She looked more sinister than normal, with her eyes a pitch black color. Her skin was deathly white, and her brown hair was tangled in a big mess. _

_"You need to leave. Now," she breathed in my ear. _

I woke up with a start. The demon-Illia's words still echoing around in my head. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and put my head in my hands. I had a horrible headache now.

I stood up and my legs were a little shaky.

Ignoring it, I walked over to where I kept my clothes and put a new shirt on. The one I was wearing before was practically drenched with sweat. I grabbed my shower things and some shoes, and started off towards the shower house.

It was still early in the morning; the sun was starting to rise. The birds were just beginning to sing, but no sign of any other campers. I felt sort of relieved everyone else was asleep because it means I get the showers to myself, and I also don't have to hear about Percy's "great contribute" to my capture the flag team.

Usually I had to wait in line to get into the showers and the Aphrodite guys take _forever and a day_ to get out of there. How long exactly, does it take a guy, _a guy,_ to comb his hair?

After my shower, I sat propped up against a tree, resting. I was still really tired.

The kids from the Apollo cabin were getting out the door. They were early risers; usually the first people at camp to be awake. Before long, most of the other cabins were up and about. Except the Ares kids. I swear they could sleep for weeks if given the chance.

I moved from my not-so-comfy position and walked towards the mess area to eat breakfast with the others. The buzzing of chatter just made my headache worst. And on top of that, I was literally falling asleep in my waffles. My face was a bit sticky after that.

Instead of eating, I just scanned the room to see if there was anything remotely interesting I could eavesdrop on. Yes, it really is that boring sitting at a table by yourself. I didn't mind being alone. I'm more aware of things when I stay out of other's ways.

There were many campers missing from breakfast today. I didn't see Annabeth sit down, and the whole Ares cabin wasn't here. It was surprising because though they sleep late, they never miss breakfast. They love food! Illia of course, wasn't here either. Most of her brothers were gone too. Where was everybody?

I stood up and walked back down to the main camp area. Today we weren't going to have any activities going on since our capture the flag game was late at night. I wasn't complaining about that, though.

I looked straight at the Ares cabin. It looked like no one was inside. Slowly, I moved closer to it and stopped right in front of the door.

"They all left," someone said behind me. I turned around and saw it was Chiron who spoke. "Ares wanted them to leave," Chiron continued.

"Why?" I asked.

Chiron sighed. "I don't know. Ares knows something we don't, I suppose."

"Will they come back?"

"Some day they will," he said and walked off.

That was really weird. Ares usually didn't show any signs of being caring towards his children. If there was anything bad that was going to happen to the camp, Persephone would make sure I stayed. Great.

Today, I mostly just wandered around the camp by myself. I had nothing to do. I walked around the whole camp and I still couldn't see the people who were missing from breakfast, besides the Ares kids.

On my second trip around camp, I saw Percy practicing his swordsman skills. He was like the only one remotely awake enough to run in circles and swinging a sword around at the dummies.

"Hey, Nico," he said in between swings. "What's new?"

"Nothing."

He nodded and put his sword away. "Annabeth is sick today."

Percy sounded almost disappointed when he said that.

"With what?" I asked.

"Just a cold. She'll be better in a day or two," he said.

"Cool."

Percy started to walk along side of me around the camp. He talked about pretty much everything while I just listened and said an occasional _yeah_ or _that's cool._ I hardly even remember most of things he talked about, but it obviously wasn't all that important.

"So, what happened last night? Where did you go?" he asked suddenly.

I just shrugged and kept walking. I was trying to avoid that topic.

"You didn't come out of the woods until long after the game was over," he remarked.

"I know," I replied shortly. "I was helping someone."

"Who?" Percy looked confused.

"A girl I accidently injured," I responded. "I brought her back to the camp."

Percy was giving a very strange look now. Like I was crazy or something.

"What?" I asked when he wouldn't say anything else.

"No one was with you when you came out of the woods," he finally said.

It was my turn to give him a confused look. How could he not see Illia? She was leaning on my shoulder.

"Yeah. I had her with me. You didn't see her?"

Percy shook his head and didn't say anything. Come to think of it, I don't remember anyone acknowledging her on the way back down. Some people said hi to me, but not to Illia. I had assumed they just didn't know who she was.

The people who were in the infirmary saw her, though. The nurse did, she wrapped up her ankle!

"She's a daughter of Eris. Illia, know her? Short, brown hair, really headstrong," I said.

"Her? I've seen her around the camp, but she wasn't with you when you came out of the woods," he responded and shrugged.

"Whatever," I said.

"Are you feeling alright?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said.

"Okay, man. I have to go. See you later," Percy said and ran off in another direction.

I started to walk faster, back to the center of the camp. More people were there now, including the Eris cabin. I felt angry now. I was tricked; I didn't help anyone down to the camp after all!

I marched past them and they all snapped their heads towards me. Illia sat on a nearby rock next to her siblings, looking surprised. I guess my anger was showing. She had her bandages wrapped around her ankle and she had crutches. That just made me even more frustrated. If she had her bandages on that meant she _was_ with me last night. Who was lying to me?

She waved to me. It was more of a half-hearted wave and her brothers didn't look all that happy to see me. The older looking blond guy, Matthew, I think Illia said was his name, stood up to his full height and gave me a threatening death glare.

"Go away," he snapped at me, but I ignored him.

"Don't tell me what to do," I said.

"I can if I want to. Get lost!" Matthew snapped again.

My eyes narrowed and I continued walking before Matthew punched my face in or something. I went back to my own cabin and slammed the door behind me. I felt lost and confused. I was so angry right now. I don't ever want to see Illia or her stupid brothers and sisters again. I want Percy to go away too. I want everyone to just leave me alone!

I kicked my bed hard and sat down on it. I didn't even care that it hurt my foot. For I don't know how long, I sat there and seethed. I'm not going to see or talk to anyone.

However, I did end up leaving the cabin. I needed to walk around and blow off some steam, and isolating myself in my cabin was not going to help with that.

I walked over to the lake, where no one was standing. When I got to the dock, I laid down on the wood, trying to relax. The sound of the water sort of helped, but I certainly did not feel much better. I don't even know why I'm mad, really. It was more of the feeling of frustration than anger.

Soon, I heard the sound of crutches against the ground and a small thump after it. I didn't have to look to see who was there.

Illia sat down next to where my head and looked down at me. She had an annoyed look on her face.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

"Nothing," I grunted.

"Really? I highly doubt that," she said and looked away.

"Leave," I said but she just shook her head.

"I'll leave when I feel like it," Illia responded.

I didn't answer her. I just wanted to be left alone for awhile so I could think. Why didn't Percy see her coming down the hill with me? I was in plain view of everyone. If she was never with me, why is her ankle bandaged?

"No one saw you with me last night," I said finally.

"Yes they did."

I shook my head. "No, Percy Jackson said you weren't with me."

"I obviously was," she said. "I'm not lying to you."

"I trust Percy more than you," I said and she remained motionless.

Illia then shrugged. "I don't mind that."

Illia pushed one of her crutches into the ground so she could stand up. I sat up too and turned to look at her. She didn't have any emotion on her face. Illia gave me one final glance and started to go back to the cabins.

She stopped for a moment. "I trust you, though," she said and kept going.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled. I felt much calmer than before, but things still were not clear. And Illia coming over to sit with me did not help make anything better. From what she said, the only conclusion I can make is Percy is now somewhat blind. I know he's not, though.

* * *

**A/N: How did I do this chapter? I was trying to do better with Nico's character in this chapter, making him seem more dark and independant. **


	4. Girls Are Strange Creatures

I think some kind of flu is starting to go around because more and more campers are checking into the infirmary for being ill. I hope I don't catch whatever it is; I hate being sick. I like when I don't have to do anything, though, but after awhile I get bored. I've noticed I get bored very easily.

Today seemed like it was taking forever to get over with. I was literally just sitting around and doing nothing. Well, I was listening to Percy talk, but he can only entertain me for so long. I lost interest in what he had to say when he started talking about Annabeth. Sometimes it really sucks for me to only have one real friend. Apparently ghosts aren't "appropriate" friends to have at camp. I can't seem to understand why.

I was lying down in the grass while Percy paced back and forth. Sometimes he said something to me, but mostly he muttered things to himself. Take three guesses who he was going on about.

Annabeth has been sick for a _few_ days and it has him all riled up. Quite frankly, I just want him to shut up. She'll be better in another day or so. Annabeth and the other campers who are sick have been getting small helpings of nectar and ambrosia. It must be a pretty bad flu because the ambrosia wears off after an hour and they're all just as sick as they were before. Sometimes it was worse than before. No one is planning on Percy that since he is practically making a hole in the ground from pacing in circles.

I actually find it pretty unusual the ambrosia isn't working. Isn't it supposed to cure everything? That's what I've been told and I have seen it fix a lot of things. Broken bones, the flu, brain damage, you name it. Not this time.

I got up off the ground and brushed off my pants.

"Percy, it's time for archery. Stop digging your way to China and let's go," I said and walked off towards the archery area.

"I'm not digging," he retorted when he caught up with me.

"Look at the ground where you were pacing. There's no grass there anymore," I pointed out.

Sure enough, if you did look at where Percy was walking around, you would see a big ring of dirt. Yeah…we were sitting there for a good while. Or, at least I was sitting there for a long time.

Percy rolled his eyes and ran off in front of me. I just continued to walk. Who cares if I'm late to something like archery? I'm not very good at it anyway.

There weren't many people at archery today. The Apollo cabin was there (big shocker, right?) and one or two people from other cabins. I'm only here because I want something to do besides lying in the dirt.

I didn't shoot many arrows, and I usually never do. Mostly, I sit and watch Percy or some other people shoot arrows. But when Chiron or a camp consular walked by, I got up and shot a few just to make it look like I was participating.

This was exactly what I just did when Chiron rounded the corner of a building. He looked kind of grim, but I pretended to be extremely focused with the targets in front of me.

"Nico!" he called sharply. I turned to him and he used his hand to beckon me.

Did I do something wrong? I racked my memory to see if I could remember doing something that could get me in trouble. Nope, nothing I could think of. I'm just a perfect little angel, aren't I?

"Here, I'll put these away," Percy said and took my bow and arrows.

I walked over to Chiron, who looked even more depressed up close.

"The Oracle has summoned you," he said and moved towards the Big House. I followed him, very confused. I have never been the leader of a quest. If it was a quest I was about to be given.

On a side note, I've always wondered what else the Oracle could tell you. I know it could be anything about the future, but do you think if I went to the Oracle she would tell me how to win the lottery?

I wasn't scared to see the Oracle. It was just Rachel, not that creepy mummy from before. Sometimes Rachel goes home instead of just hanging out at the Big House all year. She goes home for the winter and stays here during the summer.

Rachel was sitting in a wooden chair next to Dionysus' desk. She was swinging her legs and it looked like she was staring at something very distant. Something I couldn't see.

Her eyes moved their focus to me when I came close enough. They were still very distant, though. She just sat there a moment before she spoke.

_"A hero and friend will follow you over high mountains. The fading child of your enemy will sneak past and follow you too. The world will perish unless you find the golden cure. Unseen tasks await you. Hidden from mortal eyes and watched by the treasure guardians. Discordia will rise and a friend will fall,"_ Rachel recited.

She looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

"When did you get here?" she asked but I just shrugged and slowly backed out.

Chiron was waiting outside and he looked at me, waiting to her what Rachel said. I told him the prophecy word for word, but Chiron didn't look all that happy after had finished.

"Doesn't explain anything," he mumbled to himself. Don't you find it annoying when people know something you don't and they won't tell you the full story? Well, I do at least. Especially if I'm involved.

"Explain what?" I asked impatiently.

"What has been happening here," he said. Can you get anymore general than that? "I…I don't know what the prophecy means," Chiron admitted.

Does this mean I get out of it? I hope so because I don't really feel like traveling across the States today, thank you very much.

"Doesn't help," he repeated. Hello? I'm right here. Stop having a one-sided conversation with yourself and tell me what you're thinking because it's starting to bug me.

"So, does this mean I'm not going on a quest?" I asked, but Chiron shook his head.

"No, you have to go sometime. Just not today, and maybe not tomorrow," he responded. "You may go rejoin your friends if you want," he said finally. Yeah, my invisible friends. And Percy.

Archery was over, and I had nothing else to do today. I seriously need to find a hobby or something to do because I was back to sitting on the ground; minus Percy pacing around in circles.

There were lots of people done with their activities, which wasn't very surprising considering it was the late afternoon. People were running through the campsite, catching up with their friends. And here I was, sitting in the dirt.

It took me awhile to realize someone was staring at me. Dirt is just that distracting, you know?

It was a girl, who looked very much like Illia or only more matured. I've seen her a few times before; she was one of the oldest in the Eris cabin. She wasn't important enough to me to try and figure out her name. I tried to ignore her, but she wouldn't move. What is up with people stalking me all of a sudden?

I had also noticed the girl's whole cabin was pretty much missing. I didn't see them at lunch or at any activities. Like they disappeared. They were such strange people, and trust me, I know strange people when I see them.

"You're going to steal it, aren't you?" she mouthed to me when she was able to hold my attention.

Steal what? See, no one ever tells me the whole story.

The girl looked like she was in distress. Like something really horrible just happened to her. Or was going to happen to her. I looked away to see if any of her siblings were lurking around, but no one. There was no one.

She was gone when I looked back. I only looked away for a couple seconds, too. There is no way she could have left and be out of my sight that quickly. From where I was sitting, I could see the whole campsite.

I stood up and started to walk in the general direction of where she used to be sitting, but I still couldn't see her or anyone else from the Eris cabin.

I shrugged it off and went back to my own cabin.

I felt tired, and I just wanted to lie down and sleep for the rest of today, and tomorrow too, maybe. But I couldn't fall asleep. This was already a stressful day for me. This could even be in at the top of my list of the most stressful weeks of my life. That's not really saying much because I usually have very stressful days.

Lately, I haven't been sleeping very well either. Now that is saying something because I fall asleep easily and I always sleep good. The cause for my restless nights is all the nightmares I've been having. They're not really all that scary. They're dark and weird. Sometimes I see things from a monsters point of view and I end up killing myself in the dream.

The only positive thing about these dreams is they get me up early enough to be the first one in the shower. Though, I'm supposed to be one of the last cabins to take a shower because I "failed" to keep my cabin in order.

A sudden knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts. If that was Percy I am just going to slam the door in his face and pretend I'm going back to sleep.

It wasn't Percy though.

I didn't notice the person at my door right away, but what they were holding interested me more. My Stygian Iron sword was right in front of me. I looked back inside my cabin to where I keep my sword, but the holder was empty. I didn't take it out of this cabin since capture the flag!

"I found this outside in the woods," Illia said and held it out towards me. She seems to know where I am all the time and happens to show up at the most random times of the day. I had also noticed she wasn't on crutches anymore, thanks to a day of ambrosia.

"Where did you get that," I asked angrily. Someone better not have been looking through my stuff.

"I said I found it," she said and pushed it towards me some more, but I didn't take it right away. "Why won't you take it?"

"Did you take it?" I asked but she shook her head. I didn't trust her answer.

"Can I come in?" she asked suddenly after giving up on trying to stuff the sword in my head.

"No," I said shortly and her nostrils narrowed. That's something weird I've noticed about her. She'll narrow her nostrils when there's something she doesn't like. I've seen her do it to Chiron plenty of times.

"Fine. I guess I'll just keep your sword," she said and marched off back towards the rest of camp.

I can't believe her. She gets on my nerves too easily. Walking off with _my_ sword, who does she think she is?

I waited to see if Illia would turn around to check to see if I was following her, but she didn't look back once. She kept on walking until she got to her own cabin and shut the door behind her. Did she seriously just do that? I waited a couple of minutes to see if she would come out with my sword but she never did.

Sighing, I walked off towards her cabin. I wanted my sword back and I guess I'll have to get it back myself. I knocked my fist against her door hard, but she didn't open it. Gods, that was annoying.

I banged on the door harder and she finally opened it. Illia was smirking like she had just won some great game.

"Did you want something?" she laughed a little.

"My sword," I said. I knew I sounded irritated now.

"I don't have a sword," she said.

I gave her a look that told her I wasn't going to play her game, but she kept acting like she didn't know what I was talking about.

"Give it to me," I said and she brought the sword out from behind her back.

I made a grab for it but she pulled it out of my reach and moved back into her cabin.

No one else was in her cabin and it was just as messy as mine gets. Illia moved towards one of the beds that I assumed was hers, and sat down with the sword in her lap. She was careful not to touch the blade.

"Why didn't you leave yet?" she asked suddenly.

"Because I don't know why you want me to leave," I gritted my teeth.

She nodded and thought for a moment.

"Well, I guess it's too late for you anyway," she remarked more to herself than me. That's another thing that has been bothering me. People have been talking to themselves more than speaking directly to me.

"Can have my sword back yet?" I asked and moved closer but she just shook her head and tightened her grip on the handle.

Illia stopped talking too and just held on to the sword as tightly as she could. I had no more patience for her at this point.

"Where are your siblings?" I asked, hoping to distract her.

She didn't take her eyes off the sword in her lap.

"They're hiding," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hiding? Hiding from what? I didn't ask her anything else, or make another grab for my sword even though I really wanted to. It looked like Illia was ignoring me now. I wasn't going to leave until she gave me the sword, but I certainly was not going to stand here in the middle of the room. I sat down on the bed across from hers and her eyes shifted from the sword to me.

"Don't sit there," she said.

"Why?"

"That's Miranda's bed. She'll know if you sat on it and I'll get in trouble," Illia explained.

"Oh, well, in that case, I'm going to keep sitting here," I said. I needed something to annoy her as payback because she was really starting to get on my nerves now.

"Fine, then I won't give you your sword," she said simply.

"You're not going to give it to me anyway," I pointed out.

"That's not true," she said but Illia made no move to tell me she was going to give it to me.

She didn't give it to me and I didn't move form her sister's bed. Which I kind of wanted to right about now because it smelled like perfume and made me gag a little. Then out of no where, Illia held out the sword to me. It was like she just wanted me to follow her and sit in her cabin for awhile. Like I said before, Illia and her siblings were their own special kind of strangeness.

"I can take it?" I asked making sure she wasn't going to just walk off with it again.

"Mhmm," she mumbled.

I took the word from her and Illia let her hand drop. With my sword in hand, I moved towards the door to leave and go back to my own cabin.

"You're not leaving, are you?" she asked right before I could get my hand on the door handle.

"Yeah. I'm not going to stay in here with you. You're annoying," I said.

"I don't think I'm that annoying," she said.

"Uh, yeah, you are. Why would I want to sit in your cabin with you?"

She shrugged. "Don't leave, though. I promise I'll be quite," she said.

"No," I said shortly and opened the door.

"I'll steal your sword again and hide it in a place where you'll never find it," she threatened.

"What, are you going to fly into my cabin and a magical pink elephant and whisk it away and bury it in your underwear drawer or something? I think I'll be able to find it just fine if you do hide my sword," I said mockingly and I walked and closed the door behind me.

Why can't she find someone else to annoy?

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**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. I got a lot of people adding this to their favorites list, so thank you very much and I'm glad people are enjoying this. :) I hope I did an okay job on this chapter. **


	5. Watching and Waiting

_Sweat ran down my back while I ran. I didn't know where I was. The temperature was severely high and fire was shooting out from all directions. The only sounds that could be heard were the sizzling of the lava below me and my feet clinking against metal. There was something chasing me and I had no weapon. I couldn't fight back. It made the metal platforms under us vibrate with every step it took. Soon, it would catch up. _

_I jumped off the grated floor onto solid ground. There was no more fire, but it was very dark. I blindly kept running while the giant beast followed. It wanted something but I didn't know what. As I was running, I collided with a wall._

_Dead end._

_The monster's roars of rage were getting louder. I searched around the end of the tunnel for a way out until my hand came in contact with a handle. A hidden door in the wall flew open and light touched my face. Without looking back I ran forward. I needed to get away._

_The door led me to a large room. The walls of the room were crystallized and sparkled brightly. It was quite beautiful, but the flowing lava pouring out of the cracks of the walls distracted from the beauty. _

_The thudding of the monster's footsteps was getting closer and I had no where else to go. I prepared myself to die. _

_Slowly, the beast made its way through the doorway. It was the biggest monster I had ever seen. The thing could easily be taller than a Cyclops. Its skin was black, but I couldn't tell if it was from soot or that was the actual color of the skin. Fire erupted from it and when it opened its mouth, I could see many rows of sharp, jagged teeth. They stuck out in all directions and some crossed over each other. _

_It dug its claws into the ground and crawled even closer. Letting out loud roars with every step. Its numerous eyes were blinking in anger several times. There was also a red eye in the middle of the cluster that didn't blink at all. _

_I backed up against the wall because it was all I could do. In the distance behind the great beast there was a gold shimmer. As fast I could, I rolled out of the way when the monster's teeth stabbed at the wall. Shards of crystal rained down on its head. I ran towards the shimmer and saw it was a bow with arrows. Oh, thank the gods. _

_I've never been good with a bow but it was my only weapon. I nocked an arrow and pulled the bow string back to my eye. Originally, I was going to pierce the thing in the heart, but something willed me not to. When the monster turned fully around and released the arrow. It went straight through its red eye and it cried out in agony. _

_I let out a breath of relief. Today was not my day to die. The fiery monster fell forward in front of me. The flames on its body were __extinguished. The corpse started to melt into the floor. _

_Shrill screeching could be heard from beyond this room. I wasn't done fighting. I set up my bow to launch another arrow at the next opponent. When the things that were screeching appeared and…_

I was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on my door. That wasn't the first time I've had this dream. Every time I've had it, it would end in the same place. Not once did I ever get to see what the screeching things were.

There was another knock on the door reminding me someone was waiting for me to answer it. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and I made my way over to the door. When I opened it, I noticed it was still very dark outside.

"You need to come to the Big House," Percy said once the door was fully open.

"Why?" I asked groggily. I wanted to go back to sleep even though that meant I would get another nightmare.

"I don't know. Chiron just asked for the head of every cabin to meet at the Big House in a few minutes." Percy shrugged.

I nodded and went back inside to get some shoes. I didn't bother to change out of my sleeping clothes. After slipping my shoes on, I followed Percy out the door and headed off for the Big House.

We didn't say anything on the way over but I was okay with it. I felt too tired to say anything. I have been too tired to do a lot of things since the dreams started up.

Apparently I was the last one to arrive at the Big House and Percy was sent to come get me. All eyes were on me when I opened the doors. Some looked kind of annoyed at my tardiness. I ignored them and took a seat.

"It's nice to see you've decided to join us, Nico," Chiron said as he walked in front of the campers. "I wouldn't think of starting this meeting without you."

I just nodded as an answer and waited for him to say what was so important. Chiron cleared his throat and had a serious look on his face.

"I'm sure all of you are aware many of your fellow campers have fallen ill," he began. Percy shifted uncomfortably in his chair but no one really noticed. "The illness they all have is far more severe than you all may think."

Muttering broke out amongst the campers. Some sounded worried and some sounded like they would rather be somewhere else.

"Some of the campers in the infirmary are starting to lose the ability to move, talk, or do anything by themselves." He continued.

This time there were no murmurs. Instead every single person in the room was staring at Chiron with some kind of fear in their eyes. I didn't blame them. We were told it was just a bad case of the flu. Obviously, it wasn't.

I looked over at Percy and all the color was drained from his face. Annabeth was one of the sick.

"Something is attacking us in the most secretive way possible," Chiron finished and more silence followed.

"Who?" Katie Gardener from the Demeter cabin finally spoke up.

"I don't know," Chiron responded and looked down at his feet.

The murmurs started up again and they sounded urgent this time. The only person in the room who didn't look the least bit worried was Matthew from the Eris cabin. He sat with his legs crossed and actually looking smug. Then I was reminded of something.

Illia wanted me to leave camp. She knew this was going to happen. She knew it all along. I also realized how strange it was for twelve demigods to come to camp all at once. And some how they managed to disappear for periods of time. They always knew where I was too.

Now it was too late. I didn't listen to Illia.

I still didn't understand how they could just disappear, or why Percy couldn't see Illia when she came out of the woods. Why did she and her siblings take my sword? They were up to something or worse. Their mother could be up to something.

"I wouldn't dread on it constantly," Chiron said, shaking me out of my thoughts. "I will find a way to fix this problem. For now, you may all go back to bed and spread the news to your cabin mates."

They crowd all got up and tried to push their way out the door.

"Nico, can you stay a moment, please?" Chiron called from behind me.

I motioned for Percy to go on without me and I turned back to face Chiron. He was still wearing his grim look.

"You know something," he remarked.

"I know a lot of things." I shrugged.

Chiron shook his head. "You know who has done this."

I gave him a confused look. I didn't exactly know for sure who was doing this. I didn't have a good idea guess. All I had to go on were theories that I thought myself. Which meant they weren't the most reliable theories to go on.

"I've thought about the prophecy that was given to you." He started to pace slowly around the room. "Do you have any idea what it could mean yet?"

I shook my head and sat down in one of the chairs because I had a feeling I would be there awhile. Chiron let out a big sigh.

"I have it about half figured out," he said. I didn't really spend that much time thinking about the prophecy.

I waited for him to speak again but Chiron didn't say anything else. It looked like he was trying to figure out more of the prophecy before he spoke again.

"I only understand one part of it. The ending," he said after a couple moments of silence.

"What does it mean?" I asked. I have to admit, I was curious to know. Mostly because it was my prophecy we were talking about.

"Eris is upset with someone." Why didn't Chiron tell everyone this answer when Katie asked it?

_Discordia__ will rise and a friend will fall._

Someone was going to have to die in the end.

I looked over at Chiron and he was back to thinking. Honestly, I had no idea what the rest meant. Like what mountains I would have to go over, and who the treasure guardians were.

"Her apple," Chiron muttered to himself. "The golden cure."

I've heard stories about Eris' apple, most people have. It's a dangerous thing to mess with. I really hope I don't have to find that thing. It could be anywhere. It certainly wouldn't be easy to find considering it's hidden from everyone but Eris herself.

"I need more time," Chiron said to himself again.

I guess I would have to figure out the prophecy soon or people will die. Lots of people. What if mortals could be effected by the disease? I didn't want to think about that option anymore than the campers laying immobile in the infirmary.

"Chiron," I said trying to get his attention. "I'll figure it out."

Chiron seemed to consider this but then shook his head.

"No, no. We need to know where you're supposed to go," he argued.

"I know. I'll find out," I said and stood up. "I'm going to leave now."

Chiron nodded and waved me away. He turned his back to me and started to walk up some stairs, still muttering to himself but I couldn't make out any of the words he was saying.

I walked out of the Big House and into the open air. It was much lighter outside than before and there were even some campers wandering around. I didn't feel like going back to sleep anymore either. I sort of felt isolated. There was no one I could really talk to about the prophecy. Besides Chiron, but how I would I feel if Chiron ended up being my best friend? It would be kind of weird. Percy was already freaking out about Annabeth so I really didn't want to tell him and stress him out more.

It's sad I can count all my friends on one hand, but no one else has shown any interest. I mean, people liked me after the war, but that didn't mean they wanted to be friends. Sometimes I think they have forgotten all the things I've done.

I weaved through the people in front of me. I was looking for some place to sit and think. Preferably some place that was quiet. Though, finding a peacful place to sit was harder than usual now. Camp was pretty chaotic after they heard what Chiron said was happening to some of the other campers. I had to settle with going into the woods for silence.

It wasn't the best place for me, but it was the best I could do. I can't think about anything when there is a lot going on in front of me. Mostly due to my ADHD. I sat down on a rock under some short trees. The sound of the campers was could still be heard, but they just sounded like muffles now.

I thought more about my prophecy. Percy never had this kind of problem with figuring out where to go on quests. At least, I've never heard of him having any kind of problem with it. Usually he was out of camp soon after receiving his prophecy, right? I'm still inside the camp boundaries. I didn't even have the first line figured out. Knowing the last lines did not help me get started. The prophecy sounded like I would just be leading some great parade through some mountains to me.

I was too busy thinking about the stupid prophecy to hear the trees rustling behind me. Soon, I realized I was face to face with Illia, who was hanging upside down by her knees from one of the branches on the small tree behind me. How the Hades does she always know where I am? I swear, she just appears too often at the most inconvenient times.

She smirked and lifted herself back up into the tree. I turned around to see her perched on her branch like some over-sized bird.

"Do you need something this time? Or do you just like to stop by at random times for visits every once in awhile?" I said, sounding really annoyed.

"I like the second one," she said from the branch. "I heard you found out what was happening to the camp. Took you awhile, didn't it?"

I turned away from her and stared at the ground in front of me. I wished she would just leave me alone. What did she want from me? The creaking of the branch under her feet told me she was still there. Illia was not going to randomly disappear anytime soon.

"Hey, now. Don't ignore me. Don't you want to hear what I have to say?" Illia asked, trying to gain my attention back. I didn't turn around to look at her. Right now, I couldn't care less about what she had to say to me. Unless she was going to tell me what my prophecy was about, then I wanted her to leave. But Illia didn't know about my prophecy, and she wasn't leaving.

I felt something hard hit me in the back of the head. When I looked, I saw it was a big stick. Great, she decided throwing a stick at my head was the best way to get my attention.

"Why won't you listen to me?" she asked. I gritted my teeth with annoyance. I had several answers to that question.

"Because, you are the single most irritating person I have ever met. You probably won't tell me the full story anyway, so why should I waste my time with you?" I snapped at her.

"I'll tell you the whole story," she promised.

"Fine, but I'm going to ask you the questions," I said and turned to face her. Illia was resting lazily against the trunk.

"Let's not push it that far," she said.

"Why do you follow me?" I asked, ignoring her retort.

"My mother doesn't trust you. So she asked my siblings and me to keep an eye you. Just so you won't mess things up," Illia responded like it was nothing.

"Mess up what?"

"Her plans, duh," she said and hopped down from the tree. Illia started to walk back towards camp. Though, she stopped at the opening between the trees and leaned up against one with her back to me. "I can't tell you directly what they are."

"Where do you disappear to? How do you even do it?" I asked and she let out a small laugh. I didn't think this was funny.

"I told you. I'm hiding with my siblings. What, do you think I can turn invisible, or something?" Illia said. I still didn't think she was telling the whole story about the "disappearing".

"Percy couldn't see you come out of the woods the night of capture the flag," I said and she nodded.

"I know, you told me that already. But I didn't turn invisible. I don't know what happened then." Illia paused for a moment, like she was going to add something to the statement, but she left it alone. "I don't want to talk to you anymore," she said quietly.

I didn't say anything after that, or even tried to stop her when she started back down the hill for camp. I probably should have because I didn't even gave her a chance for her to tell what she orginally tracked me down for. Though Illia made me frustrated, I did learn something. Something that probably was important and I don't think she really intended on telling me this.

Eris was watching me right now.


	6. No More Procrastinating

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing and faving/alerting! I took the time to plan out this entire story more, like write out outlines. It's going to be at least 31 chapters so far. :)**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's kind of short because I'm using it to set up the next chapter so bare with me. **

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Chiron wouldn't let me wait any longer now. Tomorrow, he would be sending me off to save the camp, ready or not. Not that I was complaining. I love to leave camp and it doesn't matter what for. Leaving meant no more training for awhile, no scheduled shower times, and no stalking goddesses and her children. The only part about this that is really giving me an anxiety is I don't have an exact deadline date. My deadline is before everyone basically dies. Which could be any time.

Today though, I was sitting on the floor of my cabin looking through my stuff. I needed to get ready for tomorrow, of course, but I wasn't the most organized person in the world. So far, I am just going to shove an extra outfit, mortal money, and drachmas. Percy would take much more care with something like this, but not me.

I did ask Percy to come on the quest with me. He was packed and all ready an hour later so I take it that he wanted to come. He was also trying to fit in some extra training before we left in the morning tomorrow. I wasn't. I wanted to spend my last day in camp before my quest sleeping, but Chiron thought differently. He wanted me to pack then go talk with him. Yeah, right. I was going to pack...then go to sleep and let him come find me.

There was also my mountain dilemma I had to still solve. I could narrow it down to two mountain ranges since the United States is the Western Civilization. The Appalacian and the Rockies. I was hoping it was the Appalacians because that's where I was heading first. I bet it wasn't.

I shoved the stuff I needed for tomorrow in my backpack and tossed it onto one of the nearby beds. I sat down next to it and sighed. Today I felt really tired and stressed. I didn't even feel like sleeping anymore.

Pretty much, I was done for the day. And it was only the late afternoon. Great, I still had about five more hours to withstand before it's night. I wasn't going to spend that time just sitting around staring at the wall either. I got up and went outside, looking for something remotely interesting to do.

More than half of the campers were classified as "sick" with the disease so there was barely anyone around. The people who were outside were training and being kept away from everyone else. I have to admit, the camp looked strange to me without bunches of campers running around. It seemed more empty and lonely.

But there was Percy, swinging his sword around energetically like nothing was different. I think he was just glad to leave so he wouldn't have to be reminded of Annabeth's mangled body in the infirmary.

"Nico! You were supposed to come over to the Big House when you were done packing! I have great news," Chiron said behind me. The only news I wanted to hear is the prophecy is some kind of joke and I wouldn't have to go anywhere. "I got someone to accompany you and Percy tomorrow."

"Who?" I said, trying to sound at least a little happy about it. No duh I wasn't and Chiron even knew it.

"Well, I've been thinking about your prophecy and I've decided Matthew Leanardo from the Eris cabin would be the best choice," Chiron stated and I scowled. I hated that guy almost as much as he didn't like me. Why the Hades would he want to come with me and Percy? "You kids can have some "guy time" on the quest!"

Guy time? Seriously? Chiron is such an old man. Guy time for me probably refers to beating the crap out of Matthew repeatedly. Or the other way around since he's built bigger than me. I'll just hit with a shovel when he isn't looking.

"Great," I said shortly. "Just what I need."

"He should be coming over to talk with you in a few minutes, but I keep losing him!" Chiron said and looked around for Matthew. Yeah, I doubt Matthew would want to talk to me. I could just see how that conversation was going to go.

_Hey! What's up, man?_

_Oh, not much. I just want to strangle you. _

_No way! Me too!_

Only it wouldn't sound quite that friendly. I predict there would be a lot of cussing following that too.

"When I see him, I'll tell Matthew to come find you," Chiron said and walked off. I stared after him for a moment in disbelief. Why would Chiron send that pig on my quest with me?

* * *

Matthew didn't show up for hours, but I was totally okay with that. Instead, I just planned everything out with Percy. We planned things like where we would stop, where to go, how long should we walk around, and things like that. If Matthew had a problem with it, then that's tough because I wasn't going to change anything.

Unfortunately, he did show up at some point. And of course he didn't like my or Percy's ideas. In fact, he spent a long time insulting us instead contributing. I was going to have to spend how long with him? Too long, that is.

"How about you help instead of just sitting there," Percy said and Matthew just shrugged. I don't know why Percy was even trying.

"I don't have to do anything. I just want to get out of this rat hole," he said and went back to scrapping away bark on a nearby tree. Well, that was _very_ productive. "I don't want either of you getting in my way on this stupid quest, too."

Oh, don't worry. I was planning on staying as far away from you as possible. Or at least push you off the nearest cliff. Which ever one works best for you.

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**A/N: Short. :( I'll update again on Saturday with a longer chapter, for sure. I'm going to be updating all my stories on Saturday. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. My Adventures With The Chicken Man

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! I'm trying to keep the story in the past tense, but sometimes I have trouble with the word choice I should use. Feel free to help me with that. Hope you enjoy this chapter. I might update again on Monday because March 22nd is my birthday. A little present for all my readers. :) **

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**Chapter 7: My Adventures With The Chicken Man**

Percy and I were waiting outside of the camp boundaries for Matthew. We wanted to leave at six in the morning, but that didn't happen. It was seven, an hour later than what I wanted, and we still have not left. I was seriously considering just ditching him but Percy insisted that we should wait.

Good news was I found a shovel, perfect for knocking people unconscious. The Demeter cabin was not happy when they found out I took one of their shovels. Percy liked my shovel idea and we decided to use it when Matthew is sleeping. Yeah, we were that bored while waiting for him. Percy even started to sing. He never does things like that. For future reference, never ask Percy to sing. It's not pretty.

"Hey, I think he's finally coming," Percy said and pointed down the hill towards camp. There was someone coming out of camp, but I don't think a guy like Matthew would consider skipping out of camp in front of other guys.

"I don't think that's Matthew," I said and Percy shrugged. When I looked back at the camp entrance the person wasn't there anymore. I thought we were both going crazy from boredom.

"Up here, stupid," a voice said behind me. I turned around and the person sitting in a tree with her legs dangling from the branches. I almost missed her because her dark green silk pants and maroon shirt made her blend in a little. Her clothes didn't really match all that well.

Unfortunately, it was someone I didn't like any better than the jerk I was expecting.

"Hi!" Illia said happily when both Percy and I saw her. At this point, I was thinking about asking Percy to stab me with his sword.

"Why are_ you _here?" Percy asked when Illia dropped her backpack on the ground and hopped out of the tree. She brushed off the dirt before she spoke.

"Something happened and Matthew isn't able to come. So I volunteered myself to come with you," she answered. I didn't like the tone of her voice. It sounded like _she _did something to her half brother.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"Well...um...Matt takes this sleeping medicine that comes as a liquid to help him sleep...and I kind of drugged him with it. But I had a good reason to!" Illia explained. Percy gave her a shocked look. I don't think she knew it was illegal to do that.

"And why did you do that? You're not coming with us anyway," I said and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"The horse dude came to our cabin and asked if one us to come with you. Matthew said he would go without anyone else throwing their opinion. I told him that wasn't fair and he made me eat dirt. So I drugged him as pay back and here I am now." She sounded kind of annoyed when she said that.

"He made you eat dirt?" Percy asked in disbelief and she just nodded like it was an everyday occurrence.

"But whatever, I got fiber out of it so everybody wins," she said simply and picked her backpack off the ground. "You should be thanking me for coming along because Matt was going to kill both of you soon after you leave," she added while she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Correction, he would be able to kill me only because Percy was invulnerable and I highly doubt Matthew knew where Percy's weak point was.

"What's up with the shovel? Are we going to be digging holes?" Illia asked and pointed to the shovel that was still in my hand.

"You're not coming." I ignored her comment from before. "You don't have permission to leave camp."

"Yes I am," she said and walked off in front of us. "And I don't care if I have permission or not."

"Well, isn't she pleasant?" Percy gritted his teeth together and followed her.

We walked in silence all the way to the closest town. On the way, occasionally, Illia would start going off in the wrong direction. I couldn't tell if she was doing that on purpose to annoy Percy because you could easily tell he had enough of her. She also stopped a lot to observe things around us. Yeah, I was almost certain Illia was trying to annoy us.

The town we were in was small and not many people were out. Percy went to go get a bus schedule because we were going to go out to Maine, where the Appalachians started. Percy and I both agreed that we should look through the entire mountain range, starting at the end we were closest to.

The bus ride was possibly even more stressful than the walk we took. It was really crowded and we just barely found seats. Illia sat down by a window seat. The other open seat was next to this very over weight man, who looked disgusting. I was about to sit next to Illia when Percy moved past me and took that spot.

"I am not going to sit by that gross guy," Percy whispered but the fat guy didn't even notice us. "I'd rather sit next to our pet monkey any day." Percy nodded his head at Illia.

"I'm not a monkey!" she said, but Percy just shushed her. "I'm like Nico's age! Why do I have to be the monkey?" Illia pressed.

"I said shush," Percy said and she let it go. I moved to sit next to the fat guy.

I was hanging halfway off the seat, that's how fat he was. He smelled like fried chicken, too. It made me feel nauseous to sit next to him. The ride got worse when he started to talk to me.

"Do you think I should get this wart checked out by a doctor?" he asked and showed me his elbow.

"I wouldn't really know," I responded and pushed his nasty elbow out of my face.

"What's your name, son? Mines Albert," Albert said and held out his hand, waiting for me to shake it. I was not going to touch him. Moving his elbow was a stretch for me.

"Nick." I gave him a fake name. Albert put his hand on my shoulder and hugged me. This was starting to get weird.

"You remind me of my sister," he remarked and hugged me tighter. Scratch that, this was just plain creepy now. Last I checked, I was a boy and I'm pretty sure I didn't suddenly change genders in a few minutes.

Albert brought out an entire bucket of fried chicken from his bag and offered me some.

"No thanks," I said and I tried to move away from him. That was kind of hard since he was literally ten times bigger than me. I wish I had his mass, but only in muscle.

"I like to pretend each chicken wing is a person," Albert said and started to make his chicken talk. "Hello, Nick. My name is Mr. Chicken, and I want to be your friend." He waved the chicken in my face. I think that chicken was older than a week because it was pretty moldy.

"I'm allergic to chicken," I lied and Albert put his chicken away. Instead, he brought some rubber balls.

"I like to juggle things," Albert remarked and started to juggle the balls. He wasn't very good and whacked me in the head several times. He hit the people in front of us too. He was just so random.

Percy was laughing at me and I gave him a hard glare. That just made him laugh harder.

"We are switching seats now," I hissed at him and Percy shook his head.

"No way, man," he said.

I sighed and sat back in my seat.

"Tampon?" Albert offered and dropped a tampon into my lap. What the flip? I don't have any use for tampons! Sometimes, I still wonder why he even had one on him. "What? Do you need a bigger one? I got all sizes!" Albert said when he noticed I didn't pick up the tampon.

"I'm a freaking boy!" I shouted at him. The people around us turned and gave me strange looks.

"Really?" Albert asked like he couldn't believe it. "My God, what has the world come to?"

I looked back at Percy, who was still laughing his head off.

"Fine, we'll all just take turns sitting with fatty over there," Percy said. When the bus got to a stop light we switched seats.

"Eww! Does that mean I have to seat with him next?" Illia crinkled her nose.

"Yup. Have fun," I said and she groaned. "Sort of wished you stayed at camp, don't you?"

She shook her and laid back in her seat. "No, but I do wish I had some bacon," Illia said. "I'm starving."

"Albert has chicken," I pointed and she made a disgusted face.

Percy's experience with Albert was about the same as mine was. Only Percy didn't get offered any tampons. He got a pair of socks, though. I liked sitting next to Illia so much more than sitting next to Albert. She didn't talk because buses make her car sick, and I was okay with that. Actually, she slept most of the time.

Illia was not happy when I had to wake her up so she could take her turn sitting with the fat chicken man. The fact that she wasn't able to sleep anymore because there was no room in that seat seemed to upset her more than the thought of sitting next to a very disgusting man. Her turn with that spot was shorter than mine and Percy's.

Soon, we got off at our stop in Manhattan. We were going to go across the river to the main land and go up to Maine.

When people started to file off the bus, we let Albert off before us. It was just easier to let everyone off before us. That bus ride felt like it went on so much longer than it really did.

Now it was the late afternoon. Illia wanted food, Percy needed to use the bathroom, and I had a huge headache. Things were just going so well for us. Yeah, right.

We went into the nearest fast food resturant so Percy could use the bathroom and Illia could eat at the same time. Though, that's not what really happened. I mean, Percy did go to the bathroom. Illia didn't here because after we were in the resturant for about three minutes, I lost her. She wasn't with me anymore and I know she wasn't with Percy in the bathroom for sure. That was just...great. My headache got worst when I noticed she was gone.

"Excuse me," I said as I walked up to the cashier. "Have you seen a girl? She's short, eats a lot, her pants doesn't really match her shirt, she's annoying."

The lady shook her head. "No, sorry."

I was just about ready to bang my head agaisnt a table. This was not the best day I've ever had. In fact, I could say this day was really high up on my list of horrible days.

* * *

**A/N: Albert kind of creeps me out, too. Thanks for reading!**


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